Coin-freed machine



Dec. 24, 935. P. s. HARPER 2,025,447

COIN FREED MACHINE Filed June l5, 1955 @ggz Pfg@ y 61 6499/35/19,

Patented Dec. 24, 1935 Umransim-res Application June 13, 1935, Serial No. 26,444 In Great 'Britain November 19, 1934 Claims.

This invention has reference to. coin selecting andztesting mechanism, such as is used in coinfreedv vending machines, of the type wherein thicknesadiameter, magnetic and/or other prop- 5 erties of 'a coinare checked by the aid of a run- Way"associated:.with various gauge devices and the like and including a pivoted side wall or frameto the runway which can be opened to releaseinappropriate coins or discs which may have beerrheld upin the runway, so that they may be thrown outzor. fall out into a rejected coin chute.

Itxis the usual. practice for the said pivoted side wall to be interconnected with the drawer mechanism or with a.return coin button, or

other'device, whereby, following the insertion of the coin, a subsequent manual operation will lift the side wall and bring about the discharge of any'rejected coin. It has been proposed, however, to: perform the lifting operation automatically after a requisite time interval following. coin insertion, so that should. a coin or disc be held up in the testing mechanism it will be automatically returned as rejected without further'effort onl the part of the operator.

?` The present invention is concerned solely with an improved delay action device for automaticallylifting the pivoted side wall. The actual construction and nature of the gauges employed form no. part of the invention, it merely being `essential to the invention that the testing and selectingv mechanismv shall be broadly of the type herein defined, of which many varied constructions are iwell known in the art.

According to' the invention,..the pivoted side V Wallis held in a normally open position by means of a pivoted lever loaded bymeans of a spring, weight or. equivalent, and said lever is movable to release and close the wall by the act of insertingr'a coin, means being applied tothe lever to 4J)r4 delay its return under the influence of the spring or `the like, and thus to delay also the re-opening of thev side wall, the last named action being consequently automatic. Preferably; the .pivoted lever is a spring loaded` bell-crank one'arm of Twhich carries a coin thrust part; located behind the coin slot and controlling the movement of a tongue projecting from the pivoted wall, the

other arm being governed by a suitable mechanical delay action or check device which is advantageously a form of escapement action.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing by way of eX- ample.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of coin testing mechanism embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevationviewed from the left of Figure 1.

Figure 3 isa side elevation viewed from thef right of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail view to be yreferred to later; 535

Referring to the drawing, B indicates inv a general manner the stationary parts of the apparatus which are rigidly secured to the casing of a vending machine or other device to which the coin selecting and testing mechanism 1sV ap- -10'A plied, and A indicates in a similar manner-the' movable wall and associated devices.

The movable wall I which is adapted'fto com-- plete the coin runway'when inl its closed positionA and carries various coin gauging and testingfde-fl5"v vices 2, 3,- 4 with which the invention is not further concerned, is pivoted by pin 5 to a'station-4 ary wall 6 which includes the rejected coin chute 'I and is adapted to be secured in-the frame of fan!y automatic vending machine or the like by means 20':y

of screw Abolts 8 tted to the coin shield Sfwherein is formed a coin' slot Iii.

Pivotally mounted on thewstationarywall' vat II is a bell crank lever I2, I3 thesarm I2 whereof is continuously pulled downwards by a spring |42 25.1

anchored to the stationary wall 5 by one of its' ends at I5.

The pivoted side wall l has -a projecting tongue I6 which engages under the arm I2 of the bellcrank lever I2, I3 and is pulled downwards there-A 301i by, with the result that the side wall I isnormally swung out around its pin 5 and isheld in open position.

When inserting a coin into the slot- I'itvis' necessary to close the side wall I inorde'rto com- 35.r

plete the runway for the coin. This may bey ac'-v complished by lifting the arm I2 of the bell crank lever I2, I3 thereby allowing the tongue I6` of wall I to rise and the wall itself to close under gravity action, it being noted that the position of. 40"

both walls 6 and I is inclined to the vertical, so that once released the wall I closes at once' against the wall 6, thus completing thevcoina runway.

The lifting arrangement -for larmI2 .of vthe bell 4.5

opened, and this would occur prior to a genuine coin having had time to reach the end of the Y runway, and thus all coins, genuine or spurious,

would fall into the rejected coin chute l.

To prevent this too early opening of the side wall it is necessary to provide a delay action which will retard the opening of the `pivoted side wall for such length of time as is required for the coin to pass the full length of the runway. As aforesaid, the invention is concerned with this delay action only, which will now be described.

The delay action according to the invention is mechanical and of the escapement type. It includes a pendulum I8 pivotally mounted on the stationary wall 6 at I9 and carrying a rack 20 adapted to cooperate with a pair of pawls 2l mounted at the lower end of arm I3 of the bell crank lever I2, I3. The pawls are spring pressed Y as shown in Figure 2 and can rock clockwiseonly against the action of their springs 22.

The escapement action may best be understood by reference to Figure 2. In this the mechanism is `shown in its inoperative position. When a coin is inserted into the slot I8 the thrust member I'I is lifted by the coin as aforesaid and the bell crank lever is rocked. The arm I2 rises and allows the pivoted side wall I to close and the arm I3 rocks anticlockwise. In so doing its pawls Y dulumaround its pivot I9 clockwise.

2| ride over the rack 2G and the pawl on the right engages with the first tooth of the rack on the extreme right. The spring I4 tends to rock the bell crank lever I2, I3 clockwise but has to do soV against the resistance of the pendulum I8 which tends to swing anticlockwise. The spring wld is strong enough to overcome the resistance of the pendulum and thus the pawl on the right which at this moment engages with theextreme right tooth of the pendulum rack rocks the pen- The pawl on the right then slips off the tooth with which it had just been in engagement, but the arm i3 is not released by the pendulum, 'inasmuch as at the same moment that the rack releases the pawl on the right the pawl on the left is caught by another tooth of the rack, this action continuing until all the parts return into their initial position shown in Figure 2. The return of the bell crank lever I2, I3 into its position of rest and therewith the return of the pivoted wall I into its corresponding yopen position is thus delayed in the required manner by the escapement action.

The pivot I9 may be duplicated on the other side of the weight I8 by providing a suitable bearing bracket on the stationary part B. This would ensure a smoother operation and better balance for the weight I8.Y

It is to be understood that it is not absolutely necessary to employ a bell crank lever as a two armed lever, or even a one armed lever may be utilized carrying a suitably disposed coin thrust extension and subject to the action of a suitably placed spring or some other motive force, e. g. a magnet.

1. Mechanism of the character described comprising a coin chute having a fixed body portion and a pivoted side wall constantly urged inwardly to close the chute for passage of a coin therethrough and outwardly swingable to open the chute for release of a coin therefrom, and an escapement mechanism holding said chute side wall normally swung outwardly and movable by the insertion of a coin into the chute to permit said side wall to swing inwardly to its position closing the chute side, said escapement mechanism including means energized and set into operation by the insertion of a coin into the chute to swing said side wall outwardly after the elapse of a predetermined period of time beginning with the insertion of the coin. Y

2. Mechanism of the character described comprising a coin chute having a xed body portion and a pivoted side wall constantly urged inwardly to close the chute for passage of a coin therethrough and outwardly swingable to open the chute for release of a coin therefrom, a movable member cooperating with said chute side wall and urged constantly in a direction to swing said side wall outwardly, means whereby theV insertion of a coin into the chute moves said member to permit the chute side wall to swing inwardly and immediately releases said member for movement to swing the chute side wall outwardly, and means set into operation by the movement imparted to said member by theinsertion of a coin to delay outward swinging movement of the chute side wall to coin releasing position until after theV elapse of a predetermined period of time.

3. Mechanism of the character described comprising a coin chute having a xed body portion i and a pivoted side wall constantly urged inwardly to close the chute for passage of a coin therethrough and outwardly swingable to open the chute for release of a coin therefrom, an intermediately pivoted lever having one arm thereof cooperating with the pivoted side wall of said chute, a spring cooperating with said lever to urge same constantly in a direction to swing said pivoted side wall outwardly, means whereby the insertion of a coin into thechute swings said level` to permit the chute side wall to swing inwardlyY and immediately releases said lever for swinging movement by said spring to return the chute side wall to an outwardly swung position, and means set into operation by the movement imparted to Said lever by the insertion of a coin to delay its movement to swing the chute side wall outwardly to coin releasing position until after the elapsev of a predetermined period of time.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 2 in which the means for delaying outward swinging movement of the chute side wall comprises a pendulum and a pawl and ratchet connection between the movable member and said pendulum.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 3 in which the means for delaying swinging movement of the lever by the spring to swing the chute side wall outwardly to coin releasing position comprises a pendulum and a pawl and ratchet connection between said lever and said pendulum.

PERCY STEPHEN HARPER. 

